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Sputnik

On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched a small satellite into an
elliptical low Earth orbit.
The satellite was known as Sputnik. It consisted of a small polished silver
sphere, 585mm in diameter, with four external radio antennae that transmitted
pulses back to Earth. Direct data about the Earth's atmosphere could be
determined from the drag on the satellite and the propagation of the radio
waves through the ionosphere.

The launch of Sputnik heralded the start of the Space Race

Credit:NASA

Travelling at 29,000 kph Sputnik took just over 1.5 hours to complete each
orbit. Sputnik transmitted radio signals fro 22 days until the batteries ran
out. Sputnik continued in orbit until January 4, 1958, when it re-entered
Earth's atmosphere and burnt up. In total Sputnik spent a total of around
three months in orbit.